Tonight the Baltimore Blast host the Omaha Vipers at 1st Mariner Arena. The Blast look to remain undefeated this year as they currently sit tied for 1st Place in the MISL with the Milwaukee Wave. The Blast are 3-0 and are hoping to keep their great start going. The Omaha Vipers are 2-3 and come in here tonight looking to not only get to .500, but also avenge an earlier season 15-10 loss to the Blast.

As usual, the stadium is pretty well full with lots of kids. It’s hard to find a better time with your kids on a Saturday night. The attendance tonight was 5,742.

The game started pretty tough. Forward Johnny Torres of the Vipers went down early after getting hit in the back of the head. Then one of the officials went down with what looked like a pulled ham string. At 6:31 in the first quarter, the scoring started. Blast forward Lucio Gonazaga had a nice follow up shot to put the Blast up 2-0. Minutes later, the Blast went up 4-0 on a break away goal by Blast forward Robbie Aristodemo. After several minutes of some good offense the Vipers get on the board. A reflected follow up shot off a direct kick by Viper forward Johnny Torres, who seems to have recovered from his head shot earlier in the quarter. First quarter ended with the Blast having a 4-2 lead.

The second quarter started with the Vipers committing a boarding penalty. Blast had a 2 minute power play, but could only manage one good scoring opportunity, which missed. Lots of not much happened the rest of the quarter until the final 2 minutes. The Blast got another power opportunity with another boarding call against the Vipers. That’s when this game turned from a physical game to a dirty game. The Blast retaliated to the rough play by getting a penalty on their own There were more elbows to the head than shots in this game. But no scoring as the game went to halftime with the Blast ahead 4-2. There were 16 fouls in the first half.

The 3rd quarter continued the rough physical play. At 5:27 in the quarter Blast forward Lucio Gonzaga got his second goal of the night. This was a 3 point shot and it gave the Blast a 7-2 lead. Several minutes later, the Blast go ahead 9-2 with another Robbie Aristodemo goal. The officials had to call a time out after the goal. It looks like they were trying to get control of the game again. They didn’t! Seconds after the restart there was a pushing penalty against the Vipers. This play continued the rest of the quarter, which ended with a Blast 9-2 lead.

Here’s a shock, the Vipers start the 4th quarter with several fouls and then a yellow card to Frederico Moojen. As hissy fits go, his was pretty good. Very childish. The Blast defense has been outstanding all night, not allowing many scoring opportunities at all. Overall, this has been a dominating defensive effort. At 6:57 in the game, the Blast commit a kicking penalty and have to defend a power play. Vipers respond by pulling their goalee to have a 2 man advantage, and they score at 8:46. Blast lead down to 9-4. Vipers keep their goalee pulled to maintain extra player and keep possession of the ball the rest of the game. Blast rely on their defense to hold the lead, and it works. Several good scoring attempts by the Vipers are missed, and the Blast Pat Morris scores an empty net goal with seconds to go. Final score is Blast 12-4 and the Blast remain undefeated at 4-0. Great game.